I've become a fan of League of Legends, the multiplayer online battle arena game based on the Warcraft 3 mod "Defense of the Ancients" best known to its legions of fans at DotA. Admittedly, I suck at it, but I think it's a good game and a fascinating game design. It combines RPG leveling and outfitting with real-time strategy and teamplay, using dozens of unique Champions and hordes of minions. Using it as a base for 3e characters seems like a good fit, so I'm going to be attempting to convert LoL Champions into playable PCs and posting the results here. If I can do more than one a week I may actually finish before 2012.

EDIT 7/18/2011: Seven months later and I'm done less than half what I hoped for, but more than I expected. I've also been lucky enough to find some other tankers interested in blending LoL with DCA/MnM3e. Wandering Mystic and Hiecaro will also be posting some builds in this thread as well, and I'll be linking them in the index below. With any luck, they may help me hit my goal of getting all the active Champs done by the end of the year (and by then, I expect there will be over 80)!

I said the Champions were a good fit for 3e, but far from perfect. There are a few guidelines I'm going to be using in the conversion of each character to try and make them consistent.

Levels - The Champions themselves during a game actually start at level 1 and gain experience and powers as they defeat minions, opposing Champions and their buildings. Their development caps out at level 18. For design purposes, I'll be building each character as close to PL10/150p as I can, although I'm strongly considering allowing for some PL-breaking up to 12, along the lines of Holding Back or Untapped Potential, to model some effects, particularly their Ultimate powers.

Attacks - being a video game, it's possible to make very small incremental changes to characters that can add up to substantial edges, thanks to the ability to compute lots of numbers quickly. What I'm getting at is video game time is far faster than real time, and also a completely different beast from 3e combat time. In MnM, it usually takes 6 seconds for a PC to attack once, where as in LoL attacks usually occur every second (I think it actually tops out at 2.5 attacks/sec), and items that can increase your attack speed by a few hundreds of a second can actually be considered useful. I'll be modelling fast attacks in other ways using the 6-second round system.

Movement - most character move at about the same speed, with items that can increase it slightly. This makes sense in a balanced tactical game, therefore Champions that literally move twice as fast are much more rare. Most Champs will have a speed of 0 and possibly some Athletics skill, with a few up to speed 1. There are a few powers that theoretically allow for faster travel, but most only work for a single round.

Damage - There are two main kinds of damage in LoL: physical and magical, with respective resistances. These don't translate exactly to physical vs energy, or toughness/fortitude vs will, but I will be trying them out in that range.

Selective - in-game, all Champions are completely incapable of damaging allies or healing opponents, even with the biggest area effects. In 3e parlance, this would technically mean Selective in all cases, but I will only apply it to effects I believe could reasonably be Selective.

Items, Masteries, Runes - All of these things in LoL allow for augmentation and specialization of the Champion. For simplicity, I'm not going to bother with them now, although I may stat them out later.

Summoner Spells - like the items, masteries and runes, these are effectively additional powers the Champion can call on. In context of the game, though, the Champions are all Summoned to do battle by these unseen Summoners. I will likely try statting one out before doing any items.

Last edited by JDRook on Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:58 am, edited 2 times in total.

Sorry, I can't hear your argument for realism over the sound of my eye beams.

The mightiest warrior ever to emerge from the minotaur tribes of the Great Barrier, Alistar defended his tribe from all of Valoran's many dangers; that is, until the coming of the Noxian army. Alistar was lured from his village by the machinations of Keiran Darkwill, Baron Darkwill's youngest son, and commander of the Noxian expeditionary force. When Alistar returned home, he found his village burning and his family slain. Bellowing with rage, he charged an entire regiment of Noxus's elite, slaughtering them by the hundreds. Only the intervention of some of Noxus's most skilled summoners checked Alistar's rage. Brought in chains to Noxus, Alistar spent the intervening years as a gladiator pitted in endless battle for the entertainment of Noxus's wealthy leaders. Alistar's once noble soul slowly twisted, and he would have been lost to insanity if not for Ayelia, a young servant girl who befriended him and eventually arranged for his escape. Suddenly free, Alistar joined the newly-formed Institute of War as a champion, hoping to one day visit his final vengeance against Noxus and to find the girl who once again gave him hope.

''If you intend to grab the bull by the horns as a summoner, Alistar might have something to say about that.''

ComplicationsMotivation: Justice: Alistar joined the newly-formed Institute of War as a champion, hoping to one day visit his final vengeance against Noxus and to find the girl who once again gave him hope.

Temper: After seeing his village burned and family slain, followed by years in forced gladitorial combat, Alistar has a temper to be feared.

Created With Hero Lab® - try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com! Ah, Alistar! The first of the Champions, partly because he's relatively straightforward, partly because he's near the front of the alphabet, but mostly because he's a personal favorite of mine. Seeing that big purple guy (or gold, if you buy the skin) charging across the field, a horde of minions surrounding him and flashing green with every healing roar, pushing down enemy towers - it's a sight to behold! This was an easy build since I used the Powerhouse as a base and just replaced half his powers. Actually building his effects was another thing entirely, but it seemed to work out. The Strength & Courage Array is most of his abilities in one array, since they were all instant effects. I made liberal use of the Strength Effect option in HeroLab, which allows you to use the Strength bonus either to make/stunt alternate effects from, or as a place holder for modifiers. For instance, the Burst damage in Pulverize only costs 10 points since the base damage is already paid for in Strength. Headbutt is surprisingly inexpensive for what I wanted, even ignoring the Strength effect. It's designed to be used as a Charge/Slam attack, with the Accurate flat extra countering the -2 penalty for Charges, and an Immunity to his own Charge damage. Also, since it specifically states that the attack does not stun, it was a perfect opportunity to use the Knockabout rules I had developed using Paragon's house rule as a base. In practice, a Slam that fails resistance by 2 degrees will knock the target back 30', 3 degrees will be 60' (or 30' and prone), and 4 or more degree would be the equivalent of a full throw. Triumphant Roar is close to how it would work in-game, but may be absurdly effective in 3e. Since the concept is that Alistar is inspire them to ignore their wounds and fight, it may be better simulated with Leadership and/or ranks of Inspire. I may split the difference and lower the Heal rank, adding in Enhanced Advantages. His Ultimate ability, Ultimate Will, was challenging to make fit, since it effectively makes him almost invulnerable for a short period. It's a little hard to tell from the formatting, but I made it an alternate effect of all 3 effects under Super-Stamina. It may not work as well as I hope, though, since I made the Immunities half effect to keep the costs down. I may test these out sometime in the next month. Lastly, his passive ability to do more damage to towers came out as Favored Foe (Architecture), which still make me laugh, especially since 3e FaFoe only gives you a bonus to Interaction skills with your foe, so Alistar will never be fooled by the wily machinations of cunning structures. In practice, I was thinking he should just get a +2 circumstance bonus vs buildings, although under 3e you already get a lot of bonuses beating up on objects.

Last edited by JDRook on Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Sorry, I can't hear your argument for realism over the sound of my eye beams.

In the time shortly before the League, there were those within the sinister city-state of Noxus who did not agree with the evils perpetrated by the Noxian High Command. The High Command had just put down a coup attempt from the self-proclaimed Crown Prince Raschallion, and a crack down on any form of dissent against the new government was underway. These political and social outcasts, known as the Gray Order, sought to leave their neighbors in peace as they pursued dark arcane knowledge. The leaders of this outcast society were a married couple: Gregori Hastur, the Gray Warlock, and his wife Amoline, the Shadow Witch. Together they led an exodus of magicians and other intelligentsia from Noxus, resettling their followers beyond the Great Barrier to the northern reaches of the unforgiving Voodoo Lands. Though survival was a challenge at times, the Gray Order's colony managed to thrive in a land where so many others would have failed.

Years after the exodus, Gregori and Amoline had a child: Annie. Early on, Annie's parents knew there was something special about their daughter. At the age of two, Annie miraculously ensorcelled a shadow bear - a ferocious denizen of the petrified forests outside the colony - turning it into her pet. To this day she keeps her bear ''Tibbers'' by her side, often keeping him spellbound as a stuffed doll to be carried like a child's toy. The combination of Annie's lineage and the dark magic of her birthplace have given this little girl tremendous arcane power. It is this same girl who now finds herself as one of the most sought-after champions within the League of Legends - even by the city-state who would have exiled her parents had they not fled beforehand.

''Annie may be one of the most powerful champions ever to have fought in a Field of Justice. I shudder to think of her capabilities when she becomes an adult.'' -- High Councilor Kiersta Mandrake

ComplicationsDisability: Although extremely powerful, Annie is still a child, and anything from her limited experience and maturity to her limited height can be a complication.Power Loss: Annie needs to be able to speak and gesture to cast her spells

Annie is another of the early designed Champions recommended for beginning players. She's your standard nuker with a creepy little girl vibe a la Firestarter. She skips around the battleground, giggling as she throws around fire or summoning her pet Tibbers, a flaming shadow bear! She can be ridiculously fun to play. The initial temptation was to make her an Energy Controller. Due to her arcane heritage, however, I decided to use the Mystic as a base, which gives her Ritual and Magic Expertise as well as the "glass cannon" feel every good nuker should have. Fearless also seems right as well. Powers are relatively straightforward with just a bit of flavour to make each one interesting. There's an option in Hero Lab (or at least a particular interface layout) that makes it very simple to add an Advantage to any effect, and I've used this a few times with Annie. There doesn't seem to be any rule for or against this in 3e, but I'm finding it very handy for making nuanced effects. Disintegration is a pretty vanilla Blast effect, with a few ranks of Accuracy that I swapped for the Mystic's Ranged Attack ranks when I realized she had only the one ranged attack. The twist is in the Advantage. In LoL, killing a target with Disintegrate refunds the mana used to cast it, and while mana use isn't inherent in 3e, that mechanic reminded me of Takedown, so I made it part of the effect, allowing Annie to take out groups of minions in no time. Incinerate is Cone Damage, and still Selective. Annie could conceivably control her fire enough to keep it from frying her allies, plus the totals work out better. Fire Control I threw in just because it fits her character concept. You couldn't simulate something that flexible in a game like LoL. At least not yet. Molten Shield can operate at full power while Annie attacks, which is why I put it outside her array. It would be good against conventional attacks, but it still leaves her relatively squishy compared to other Champs. Mystic Senses are from the Mystic, and never come up in LoL, but again work for her niche. Pyromania is Annie's "passive", which is defined as being able to stun a target with every 5th spell. Spell counting is not a thing I'd want to do in a table-top RPG and most combats wouldn't allow her to get that far more than once, if at all, so I thought using Daze(Intimidation) would be a good effect. Also, since it's based on casting, I gave her an Intimidation bonus based on her Magic Expertise. Essentially she rolls against DC15 and gets +1 to Intimidate for every point she beats it by, and with her skill a routine roll of 23 would get her +8, doubling her base bonus and making her the scariest little girl in the League. Have you seen her bear Tibbers? I built the Summon as a Device, a plush teddy bear, that turns into a 15' foot bear on fire. Tibbers himself is a standard bear from 2e with a few more ranks in Str and a Fire Aura. Perfect for keeping away nasty people trying to get too close to her. EDIT 27/02/2011: I've tuned Annie slightly, lowering her fighting and making Tibbers more formidable.Tibbers the Bear - PL 8

Thanks, I was particularly proud of Pyromania. I may jigger with the numbers in future, but it largely does what I want it to do.

I didn't give Shrinking to Annie for the same reason I didn't give Growth to Tibbers, or Alistar for that matter: Permanent size conditions can be simulated just as easily with the component bonuses. That's why on top of normal bear skills I gave Tibbers a bump in Intimidation (albeit a small one) and I pushed up Annie's Stealth. I might go back and add in a Feature or Quirk in the proper places, although most of Annie's smallness negatives are covered by the Still a Child complication

I may change my mind about some of these after I stat out Cho'Gath, who actually does Grow in response to eating targets but that won't be for a while. I'm starting with the ones that 1) I've actually played and 2) are relatively easy to stat. I've got another half dozen I've put into HeroLab, but getting them near the 10/150 sweet spot is a challenge.

Next most likely is Amumu, but I may pull out something else if I get daring.

Sorry, I can't hear your argument for realism over the sound of my eye beams.

Seriously, that's a great find! And he was doing them in 3e with a PL8/100 point target. I would have to be crazy/stupid not to steal this . . . I mean build on this poster's legacy. I'm going to add that link to my index.

Sorry, I can't hear your argument for realism over the sound of my eye beams.

I've actually never played him, and can't recall playing against him, but WOW is that going to be an interesting build! I'm going to have to run him through a few practice games to get a feel for him first. The written range on some of his abilities is unreal!

Sorry, I can't hear your argument for realism over the sound of my eye beams.

Perhaps one of the oddest champions in the League of Legends is the yordle known as Amumu. His life before joining the League remains unknown... especially to Amumu. All he remembers is that he woke up alone inside a pyramid within the Shurima Desert. He was entwined in mummy wrappings and he could not feel his heart beat. Furthermore, he felt a deep sadness that he could not entirely explain; he knew he missed his parents, though he could not remember who they were. Dropping to his knees, Amumu wept into his bandages. No matter what he did, it seemed he could never stop his tears or sadness. Eventually he stood up, determined to wander the world to discover his past. Amumu traveled all across southern Valoran - a feat that is not easily dismissed.

While Amumu still hasn't learned much about his past, he has learned a great deal about who he has become. He is most assuredly undead, though he harbors none of the evil characteristics typical of undead beings. He also seems to keep trouble at arm's length; Amumu was able to traverse all of Southern Valoran without so much as a single bad thing happening to him. He was just sad, and the people and beings he encountered eventually shared his sadness. Ultimately, he made his way north across the Great Barrier to the Institute of War, the home of the League. Amumu's story was compelling to the summoners he met there, and they invited him to take part in a League Judgment. His success within the League as a champion has given Amumu something he desired: a home. With his present (un)life secured, he now hopes the friends he has made will help him discover his past.

''Things are bad when Amumu is crying, but they're much worse when he's angry.'' -- Ezreal

ComplicationsIdentity: Rather than hide his identity, Amumu hopes to discover his, so this is a Motivation.Power Loss: Amumu, despite his undead ways, is still vulnerable to Sensory attacks and other effects that affect most Champs. If Dazzled, he gets a hero point.

Amumu is great! He's not my favorite character, he's not even my favorite tank, but all of his powers focus on squeezing right into the middle of the action and letting loose, and I really enjoy that. He's like the Hulk in toddler form, and since I decided to strip out all of his Selective AoEs, he's practically a force of nature! On the other hand, his powers were harder to figure out than I thought. I went back to rearrange and rebalance things a few times, and could probably keep doing it, but I figured he was at least good enough to post now and I could make adjustments later. Rather than basing him off an archetype like the last two, I attempted to make Amumu out of whole cloth (no pun intended) with just a sprinkling of zombie. His abilities are quite low for a tank, since most of his oomph is in his powers. After long deliberation I decided that I would keep his Fortitude Immunity, even though LoL Champs are all subject to things like blinding and other Fort-style attacks, and just made it a Complication. Being a standard Video Game Amnesiac, I've also kept his skills and advantages limited, although I always feel bad about making unskilled immortals, so I also gave him Beginner's Luck, another staple of VGAs. Power Attack as his sole combat Advantage also feels a bit naked, but helps since I made his Str relatively low for a serious melee tank. He's just a little Yordle, after all. Cursed Touch is his Passive, a Will-resisted Will draining Aura, which means this damage is on top of what he does just by punching. Combining this with Despair is a wicked combo. Despair is a Sustained Close Range AoE (in-game you literally toggled it on and off, although it could use up all your mana) designed to pick away at enemy Champions health by tiny increments, but continuously. Unfortunately Weaken only drains up to its max rank. I decided to custom modify it to only allow one point of drain for every attack, effectively the minimal effect, and made it worth -2/rank much like Limited to One Degree for Affliction, to which Weaken is similar. The Sustained modifier keeps the Weaken from fading. The Mummy Attacks!!! I put Amumu's 3 instant attacks in one array, and I couldn't resist using this name. Oh, Bandage Toss! All of his powers were tricky, but this one I had trouble just figuring the mechanics, because it seems like a ranged attack, but when he hits he's immediately pulled into his target, and if he misses, he doesn't move. I finally decided to just make it a Feature that he rolls the attack as melee and doesn't move if he misses the attack roll, but has to attack as a Charge (-2 strike) for a Quirk, so on a successful attack he swings in and slams into the target. This also has the option to make it a Slam Attack and get some bonus PL-breaking damage. It still needs work. I may make it a Ranged attack that does Melee damage, but I'd have to retool Amumu quite a bit, although to be fair I sucked at aiming the Bandage Toss in-game. There's also an "always works" Stun component, but I figured the huge damage would cover it, although I do have a lot of room in the array, thanks to . . . CotSM came out pretty good. Once I took out Selective I decided to make the AoE extra large with a second rank, so he just blankets the place with bandagery! It is his Ultimate, though, and therefore I made it Tiring so as not to use it too often. Just for the heck of it, I also made a LoL-based Snare as opposed to the standard MnM one, so instead of knocking out defenses, it actually takes away actions, so tangled targets could still Dodge as per normal but can't move or attack until they resist out. Tantrum is a fun one! The damage itself is pretty vanilla, save that it's Burst Area and Str-based (with extra ranks to cover all Str), but the interesting part is that it's "linked" to Impervious Toughness outside the array. Amumu's base Toughness is 12 with only 2 Imperv, but every use of Tantrum increases it by 2 to a maximum of +10, or the full 12. I wanted to make it higher so that he could Bandage Slam and be effectively Immune to his own Slam damage (which I may add separately anyway) but that would have lowered his defenses or broken PL10. Definitely still a work in progress. Feedback is welcome. EDIT 27/02/2011 I took Saltcrow's suggestion and changed Cursed Touch from a Reaction Damage Aura to a linked attack. With the saved points I increased the damage component of CotSM.

Last edited by JDRook on Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Sorry, I can't hear your argument for realism over the sound of my eye beams.